Fresh-legged James impressive in long-awaited NFL debut

In his long-awaited NFL debut, LaMichael James didn’t have butterflies but he did have plenty of burst after sitting on the sideline for the season’s first 13 weeks.

After finding some holes en route to gaining 30 yards on eight carries, catching a 15-yard pass and averaging 26.3 yards on three kickoff returns, James also found a silver lining in his extended inactivity Sunday.

James hadn’t played since the preseason finale against the Chargers on Aug. 30.

“I’ve got those fresh legs,” James said. “That’s 100 percent true. That’s definitely a big a deal. At this level, those guys have been pounding for two or three months now. Today was my first day ever getting tackled. So I’ve got a little advantage and we’ll take it.”

With Kendall Hunter out for the season, James, a second-round pick who led the NCAA in rushing yards per game at Oregon last year, gave the running game an infusion of speed and quickness that was lacking last week when Hunter missed his first game.

“He’s a great player, very shifty, very fast, so he opened up a lot of things for us,” quarterback Colin Kaepernick said.

James wasted little time making an impression. He returned the opening kickoff 34 yards after corralling it eight yards deep in the end zone. The bit of boldness was a fitting start to what he termed a “stress-free” day. He said his teammates infused him with the confidence that he belonged during the week.

“(The game) really wasn’t that fast to me,” James said. “I was really calm, I wasn’t nervous and I went out there and played.”

Given his impressive debut, James was asked a logical question: Did he think he should have been activated much earlier?

“Not at all,” James said. “The coaches know what they’re doing. I’m just here to help the team win. I’m not sure if I was ready a few weeks ago.”

For his part, Jim Harbaugh had a less definitive response when asked what took so long.